A DANCE class has been launched for people with Parkinson’s Disease and other conditions which restrict mobility.

Participants will have chance to learn moves such as the tango, salsa and hand jive, and be led around the room in a ceilidh.

Called Dancing with Parkinson's, the classes - which are open to people of all ages, with or without dance experience, as well as their carers and friends - were launched at Pudsey's Robin Lane Health & Wellbeing Centre yesterday.

The classes are organised by charitable company Ascendance, supported by Parkinson’s UK, with £15,000 funding from Arts Council England and £1,000 funding from Leeds Inspired.

Rachel Weeson, the artistic director of Ascendance, said each hour-long class is designed to be expressive and creative, promoting feelings of freedom from the physical and social constraints of neurodegenerative disease.

"We are thrilled to offer such an important programme in Pudsey, allowing us to open a community class that can improve quality of life, balance, gait and postural stability," she added.

"Robin Lane is such a forward-thinking surgery which advocates that social care is just as important as medical interventions for a patient’s overall wellbeing. We can’t wait to start getting people moving again."

According to Parkinson’s UK, every hour someone in the UK is told they have Parkinson's Disease. The condition affects 127,000 people in the UK, and one in 20 people are under 40 when they are diagnosed.

Parkinson's is a degenerative neurological condition, for which there currently is no cure. The main symptoms are tremor, slowness of movement and rigidity.

Robin Lane Health & Wellbeing Centre is an NHS GP practice with an onsite café, arts events and free volunteer-run activities helping patients live longer, healthier lives, with a focus on social care as well as medical intervention for overall wellbeing.

* Dancing with Parkinson's classes are at Robin Lane Health & Wellbeing Centre, Pudsey, on Thursdays from 11.30am to 1pm. For more details visit ascendance.org.uk or email classes@ascendance.org.uk

For more about the Robin Lane centre go to robinlanehealthandwellbeingcentre.com